Hell Spawn
by Lexyqu
Summary: No one ever said being the son of Satan was easy. Especially when more of your demonic siblings start showing up and won't leave you the hell alone! Rated M for language and mature themes. OC-Demon Kings. Pretty much complete AU at this point or severe Canon Divergence.
1. Prologue

**2-11-2018**  
 **H-hey, long time no see...**  
 **Eheheh.**  
 **Uhm.**  
 **So yeah, since I wrote the first few chapters with no real end goal in mind I got a little stuck, which meant no new chapters. But that's all resolved now so let's get this show back on the road! Some adjustments had to be made in chapters 1-3, so please read those before you continue.**

* * *

In a darkened room, at an undisclosed location, a hand with claw-like nails hovered over the assortment of delicious snacks brought in to accompany the tea.

Egyn grinned at the mouthwatering sight. Everything looked _so good_ , and without Amaimon or Beelzebub there devouring everything sweet in sight he actually had time to choose.

And it felt great!

After some careful consideration, he picked up one of the small, cube-like confections, taking care not to damage the intricate decoration on top before promptly shoving the entire thing in his mouth.

"Swo," he began curiously, talking around a mouthful of cake and sending crumbs flying. "Way'd'ou call m'here?"

Iblis glared at him, then rolled her eyes upwards as if she's beseeching some deity - Father, maybe - to give her strength, and the sight of it very nearly made Egyn roll _his_ eyes.

He didn't, of course. Because he wasn't an idiot.

Just because his sister looked all calm and collected _now_ , he knew full well the tiniest thing could set her off. She was a lot like their Father in that regard.

 _Huh… Wonder if she'd take that as a compliment._

Millennia spent in close — relatively speaking — contact had taught him how to navigate the minefield that was the King — or Queen, if you wanted to be nitpicky — of Fire's temper. And while he liked to skirt the edges every now and again, teasing and annoying her like only a younger brother could, he didn't actually want her _angry_. And definitely not if he would be the sole target off her rage. No, those things were better left for when the brats were around.

"I heard something interesting a little while ago," she said suddenly, drawing his attention again. A flick of a finger sent the teapot floating up, as if lifted by an invisible hand. As it filled their cups, her gaze lingered on the steam rising from the delicate porcelain. "The Impure King was revived in Assiah."

Purple eyes widened in surprise. "Oh?"

Iblis hummed, taking a sip of the fragrant liquid.

Peering at his own cup, Egyn took a whiff. 'Earl grey' people called it, right? It had been a while since he'd last had some but the smell was quite distinct.

"And?" he asked when his sister didn't elaborate. "Is Assiah a wasteland of rot now? It can't be." Distaste colored his words. "If it was, Astaroth would be in here bragging about his pet."

Iblis shook her head.

"It was defeated. However, that is immaterial."

Oh?

"And why's that?"

"Big Brother's exorcists used some of my kin to fight it-" nothing out of the ordinary there, "-and when they failed-" again, totally predictable, "-Ucchusma went to see what could be done. He told me he met someone near the core."

Iblis turned to him then, her voice never changing from its dispassionate state and glittering garnet eyes the only thing betraying her interest.

"A child, neither human nor demon."

Understanding bloomed on Egyn's face.

"Oh. He meant Father's...?"

"What else?"

Egyn shrugged, eyeing his sister carefully. "Maybe Father has more bastards running about," he suggested. The well-timed comment had the intended effect and he has the singular satisfaction of watching his prim and proper sister choke on her tea in a most unladylike fashion.

Iblis slammed her cup down with such force that Egyn was surprised it didn't shatter on impact. Tea sloshed over the edge, evaporating before it even has a chance to hit her skin.

Her glare burns. In fact, the entire room is starting to get uncomfortably hot.

Egyn fiddled with the silk of his shirt collar and quickly gave her his most disarming smile.

"My apologies, Sister."

After a few tense and unpleasantly hot seconds, Iblis looked away. Neither spoke for a while. No doubt his sister was weighing the pros and cons of eviscerating him but what else was new. Egyn had never seen the point in worrying about things he couldn't control and so he just grabbed more cake.

"I'm going to Assiah."

And now he was the one coughing.

"Eeeeeh? But why?"

Iblis' look made him feel a little foolish for asking but Egyn shoved the thought aside.

"Amaimon has not returned for some time. No doubt he is with Big Brother Samael. And Big Brother Lucifer is there, too," Iblis waved her hand, an indistinct gesture, "Somewhere. Assiah is becoming interesting. I want to see what happens from this point on."

With that declaration, Iblis rose from the table and swept across the room. At the door, however, she paused.

"Besides," she murmured, "I have yet to meet our littlest brother."

A grin found its way onto Egyn's face.

"Same here. Say…mind if I tag along?"

"Do as you please."

* * *

 **I hope you found that enjoyable ^ ^**  
 **If so, please leave a comment~**


	2. Oh Brother Dearest

**Guess who finally decided to update...**

 **I really am sorry though. Didn't think it would take this long.**

 **Please enjoy~**

* * *

No one ever said being the son of Satan was going to be easy. And if someone did, they weren't right in the head and ought to be put in a cozy little room with padded walls.

No, having the God of Gehenna as his biological father was _definitely not_ easy and people, the ones who knew anyway, tended to look at him funny.

Their eyes filled with mistrust.

Anger.

Fear.

If Rin was being honest with himself, that last one hurt the most.

Still, he bore it all with relatively little complaint. It wasn't so different from when he was growing up.

He worked hard, just like his dad, his _real_ father, not that psychotic human-candlestick — demon-candlestick? — had taught him.

He learned to control his flames and little by little those looks went away. His friends were _his friends_ again. And the other exorcists no longer tensed when he walked into a room, fingers twitching in an aborted attempt to reach for a weapon.

Things were looking up, not just for him but his brother too. Yukio was no longer in danger of going bald at twenty and that was definitely a big plus.

Yes. Life was good.

And because the universe had a sick, twisted sense of humor, that was when they showed up…

xXx

Night had long since descended on the Land of the Rising Sun, and all across Japan people lay fast asleep in their beds. The inhabitants of True Cross Academy were, of course, no exception. That is to say, the human ones weren't.

Samael, King of Time, sat behind his grandiose desk in his decadent office. His body, though it had at some point been human, no longer required rest as frequently as it once had, his demonic powers keeping it in tiptop condition, the small matter of the cellular degeneration _caused_ by said demonic powers notwithstanding.

Standing before him were several neat and frighteningly tall stacks of documents and files. Their height was his own fault. With Lucifer's declaration of war and his painstakingly crafted wards and barriers in ruins, he'd had his hands full. As if to add insult to injury, one of his Exwire students had been kidnapped, on schoolgrounds. And by his own spy no less!

The whole affair would be terribly embarrassing if it wasn't so very entertaining.

Miss Kamiki had since been recovered, the barrier up and running again, and with reinforcements from various divisions of the Order, he was left with little else to do but the most tedious of tasks.

Paperwork.

Face set in a permanent scowl of displeasure, he worked his way through the workload one file at a time.

Reports were read. Requests granted or denied. His signature here. Another there.

Over and over _and over again_.

An aggravated sigh found its way out through clenched teeth.

It was somewhat amusing, Samael decided humorlessly while pinching the bridge of his nose, that of all possible things, bureaucracy was the one equally abhorrent to both humans and (higher) demons alike. He simply couldn't stand paperwork. Not at all.

So great was his irritation, that for the briefest of moments he entertained some hope that Amaimon would return from wherever he had wandered off to after being kicked out of the office for being too annoying.

The moment passed but his brother did not appear.

It's for the best, Samael decided, tapping his pen idly against the table.

While Amaimon might offer a much-needed distraction from his work, it would surely be done by stirring up trouble in some way or form. Letting the demon out of his sight at all carried risks, but Samael had better things to do than babysit his wayward younger brother. And besides, Amaimon knew very well what would happen if he stepped out of line again.

It had taken weeks of gentle 'persuasion', but the chairman was now confident that his brother had been cured of his fits of disobedience, as well as his dislike for their youngest sibling.

As if.

Samael was no fool. He knew Amaimon still harbored an intense hatred for Rin but contended himself with the knowledge that, for now at least, the King of Earth knew better than to do anything that could result in damage to the school or its students.

Which, much to Amaimon's displeasure, included the object of his rage, as well as the other Exwires he so loathed.

Perhaps it was in poor taste, but watching his stupid brother get so worked up, all the while knowing he couldn't actually do anything to them, never failed to put a smile on the demon's face. Now if only he could get Amaimon to clean up after himself instead of just leaving behind mountains of wrappers after another of his rage-fueled eating binges, life would be wonderful indeed.

Mephisto pondered whether he ought to send the demon back to Gehenna but decided against it. With Lucifer and the Illuminati breathing down his stylishly cravated neck, having the King of Earth around could be handy, if only as a messenger and occasional soundboard.

His newfound tolerance for Amaimon's continued presence was most certainly _not_ due to some foolish desire for familial companionship. One of the more demonic persuasion, because as entertaining as either of the Okumura twins could be, rarely did they share his idea of a good time.

No, Samael might care for his siblings in his own way, but they were still demons. It wasn't strange to go decades without contact. Why, he hadn't spoken to his older brother in close to, oh, sixteen years or so. And the others...

Well.

His musings were interrupted by his cellphone blasting out the opening song of his currently favorite anime.

Turning his chair to face the window, Mephisto took the device out of his pocket. Humming along to the tune, he meant to answer it but paused as the words on the screen caught his eye.

"Oh my! Speak of the devil~!"

A predatory smirk bloomed on his face and he lifted the phone and answered.

"Now this is a surprise~," he purred. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

Behind him, the paperwork lay on the desk. Utterly forgotten.

xXx

"Nii-san. Nii-san!"

Okumura Yukio shook his head and sighed. His brother kept snoring loudly, completely unresponsive to any attempt to wake him. How he could even sleep in that position was beyond Yukio. But then, he reflected, his Nii-san had slept in stranger places.

The young Exwire had somehow gotten tangled in his bed sheets, various limbs extending out at odd, even concerning angles. His tail lay coiled on the floor.

Every few seconds, the black appendage would twitch, a sure sign his brother would be waking soon. But whether soon meant minutes or another hour was impossible to tell.

Yukio glanced at his watch again. At this rate they would _both_ be late.

Reluctantly, he approached his older brother and reached down.

The tail was warm and soft to the touch. Rin murmured in his sleep and Yukio allowed himself a moment to feel guilty before squeezing.

"AAARGH!"

With a scream, his brother shot out of bed and the tail tore from Yukio's grip.

"Fuck! What the hell, Yukio?! That _hurt!_ " The half demon cradled his tail to his chest in an attempt to sooth the ache and shot his brother a teary-eyed glare.

Yukio rose, his glasses reflecting the light, adding to his serious demeanor. "Get up," he ordered pitilessly. "School starts in 20 minutes."

"And why the hell couldn't you wake me up like a normal person?!" Still, the other boy got out of bed and began rushing about to get ready.

"I tried." Yukio shook his head again as his brother started hopping around on one foot, trying to get his uniform on. "You wouldn't get up."

"Then try harder damnit! Don't just go around grabbing people's tails! Not cool, man! AH!"

His brother tripped, face crashing into the floor.

Ignoring the curses that followed, Yukio adjusted his glasses and began his customary battle against the migraine that exposure to his brother never failed to induce.

"...Just get ready so we can go."

xXx

Despite a hectic morning, the rest of the day passed without a single hitch.

Which was why Rin's face quickly soured when Mephisto, in dog form, fell into step beside him as he was returning to the dorm.

Yukio was off doing teacher things but had, after a barrage of nagging from Rin, promised to be home for dinner later.

The little dog's tail was wagging faster than the naked eye could see, clearly delighted at the coos and squeals he received from the day school students walking by.

Rin pulled a face.

 _Weirdo._

"What do you want?" he asked the mutt once they were out of earshot.

In response, Mephisto gave him a sidelong stare. It was strange, coming from a dog. Especially one wearing a pink, polka dot scarf.

"Now now, Okumura-kun. We've talked about this." There was a burst of pink smoke, and when it lifted, Mephisto shook his head in an overdone display of disappointment. "At least _try_ to be more respectful when speaking to your elders. Or you'll find not everyone is as indulgent as I am."

Since Rin wasn't about to touch that statement with a ten-foot pole, he repeated the question. Slowly this time.

"What. Do you. _Want?_ "

"A third season for one, preferably with more screen time for me," the taller man lamented, chuckling at the question marks now floating around Rin's head. "But never mind that for now~ As to why I'm here, consider it moral support."

 _And just what the hell is that supposed to mean?_

Mephisto smiled that creepy smile of his. The one that said I-know-more-than-you-do-and-I'm-not-telling.

"You'll see soon enough," the demon assured him before he even had a chance to ask. He gestured to the front entrance of the old building. "Just mind your manners and you'll be fine~"

As he stood there, Rin seriously considered running away. Just hightailing it out of there and never looking back.

Clearly whatever Mephisto was talking about was inside. And anything that got that freaking clown so damn excited, judging by shit-eating grin he was now sporting, wasn't something Rin wanted to deal with. Ever.

It was only the knowledge that he'd never succeed at escaping the weirdo that kept him from making a break for it.

Better to get it over with, Rin thought, and, with great reluctance, reached for the handle.

* * *

 **Well, I hope you guys liked it, and that it was worth the wait. I'll try to be quicker with the next chapter but. You know.**

 **No promises.**

 **Anyways, please leave a comment. Tell me what you liked, didn't like, etc.**

 **Since the manga now has a canon appearance of Egyn all my wonderful OC stuff is kind of, well, debunked. But whatever. I'm rolling with it.**

 **Bye~**


	3. The Guests

**Here you go~**

* * *

Egyn's hands were neatly tucked beneath his head, fingers laced together.

The sky looming above was dark as always, a cloudy mix of purple and red, and a light breeze carried the scent of blood and misery.

No place like home, the King of Water thought, eyes slipping shut in contentment, the ghost of a smile playing at his lips.

He dozed there for a while, slipping in and out of consciousness until, in a muddled voice, he asked, "How much longer do we have to wait?"

Now if there had been crickets in Gehenna — oversized demon ones don't count, okay — this would have been their shining moment.

Frowning at the lack of response, Egyn cracked open an eye.

"Hey," he called, sitting up. "Gehenna to Iblis. Anyone there? I know you can hear me."

She didn't even bother to turn his way.

"Helloooooooooo? Iiiiiiiiibliiiiiiiiis? Iblis Iblis Iblis Iblis-"

"Will you stop that!"

Victory.

"I'll stop when you answer my question," he said.

"No, you won't," she muttered — in such a way that made him think he wasn't supposed to hear except that she knew how good demonic hearing was so really, she was just being petty — before raising her voice to normal speaking volume. "Samael said to be here at noon."

"Exactly, _noon_ ," Egyn scoffed. "Which was an hour ago." Probably. With no sun to indicate the time, clocks or guesswork really were the only options available. Was Iblis wearing a watch? He couldn't see, not with her back still turned. "He's supposed to be Master of Time and Space yet he can't even keep a damn appointment. That asshole."

"If it bothers you so much, you could always leave," she pointed out coldly. "I have no desire to listen to your vulgar complaints."

"Don't be like that," he said. Stretching his arms, he began lazily working the kinks out of his back. "You said I could come, too, remember?"

"I do," she said flatly, at last casting a glance over her shoulder. "Must you make me regret that decision so soon?"

Egyn shrugged.

In an effort to amuse himself, he began gathering the moisture in the air and compressing it into little balls of water. Once a dozen or so were floating around, he flicked two fingers down. The spheres shot away like bullets, and seconds later the loud, anguished roars of demons tore through the air.

Egyn snickered at the dying howls, and, ignoring Iblis' sigh of disapproval, began forming the next set.

No sooner had he finished, that a surge of power rippled behind them, ripping a tear in the fabric of space.

"Finally," Egyn groaned, dropping the spheres. They hit the ground, splashing like rain drops before soaking into the rocks.

The two Kings watched in silence as the tear grew. Once it was large enough, Iblis stepped through and was quickly swallowed by the shadows. Casting one final glance at Gehenna's ominous landscape, Egyn followed her into the darkness.

xXx

It wasn't Samael who was waiting for them on the other side.

"So he's late _and_ rude?" Egyn questioned, quirking an eyebrow at the demon butler. "What do you think, Belial, was it his time amongst humanity that ruined his sense of courtesy or does family simply mean jack shit nowadays?"

To his credit, Belial didn't so much as bat an eye at the rudely phrased question, but then it could hardly be the first time he'd have had to deal with the backlash of Samael's crap. Instead, the butler dipped into a low bow.

"Allow me to convey my Master's most profound remorse at this discourteous reception. Please know that there are extenuating circumstances which I am not at liberty to discuss. However, if Your Highnesses would be so kind as to follow me, I shall guide you to him."

Iblis inclined her head, shooting Egyn a sharp glance before he could fire off another barb. He settled on a shrug instead.

Not like we have much of a choice, he thought as Belial proceeded to lead them through a veritable maze of tunnels and chambers. Going by architecture and feel, it was obvious they weren't physically located anywhere near each other, rather connected through magic, and going in blind could only end in disaster.

After walking for nearly half an hour, passing who knows how many rooms along the way, the atmosphere changed.

Sunlight poured in through large, unfrosted windows, offering a view of the sprawling city beyond while also making the hallway they were in uncomfortably bright. Egyn resisted the urge to rub at his eyes but couldn't keep a scowl from forming.

They followed Belial further into the mansion, passing by tasteful and not so tasteful décor. Egyn was honestly surprised he _didn't_ see an obscenely large painting of his brother come by. Samael certainly had the ego for it.

At a pair of large, double doors, made of wood that shimmered like gold, the butler halted.

Inside lay another room, an office this time. There were cushy armchairs, potted plants and even a hearth to the side, but what truly dominated the space was an enormous desk all the way at the back. And seated atop it, legs crossed and unchanged as ever, was Samael.

At their arrival, he slid off, approaching them with arms swept wide in welcome.

"Iblis," he said, eyes moving from one to the other. "And Egyn, too. My dear siblings. Oh, it's been far too long~!"

"Has it?" Iblis asked softly. Egyn glanced at her in faint surprise. Her tone just now had been sarcasm personified. Ah, so she _was_ pissed about being kept waiting.

Samael's smile widened, turning sharp.

"Oh yes," he said. "Nearly a century if I'm not mistaken."

"…And whose fault is that?" Iblis asked slowly, eyes narrowing as Samael looked her up and down. When he finished his appraisal, he met her eyes, smirking.

"This body suits you~!" he gushed, ignoring the reproof entirely. "Tell me, how long have you had it?"

Iblis stiffened, anger flashing across her face. Hmm, time to cut in.

"Fun as it'd be to watch Ibby tear you a new one," Egyn said, affecting a bored tone. "I for one would like to get on with the reason we're here. So, 'Nii-san', where would this little brother of ours happen to be at?"

Iblis' glare was nothing short of murderous and Egyn shot her a gleeful grin in return. Partly because, well, she looked funny like this, and partly to distract her from the bastard they were unfortunate enough to call an older brother.

Samael — that asshole — merely chuckled.

"In class," he said. "Where he'll remain for the next 2 hours. Education is important, after all. I'll make the introduction afterwards. Until then, the two of you are free to explore the grounds. Discreetly, of course." His eyes moved between the two before settling on the King of Fire.

"…I trust that won't be a problem?"

From his position by her side, Egyn had a clear view of Iblis' clenched jaw. Relaxing it for just a second, his sister managed a rough 'no' before the entire thing locked up again.

"Marvelous~!" Samael cheerfully clapped his hands together. "Then if you'll excuse me. A headmaster's work is never finished~!"

With that blatant dismissal, Iblis turned and stalked out the door, back the way they came. Egyn trailed after her through the empty hallway, silently counting the seconds. He made it all the way to seventeen before Iblis finally spoke.

"I neither required," she hissed, "nor _wished_ for your assistance."

Egyn folded his arms behind his head and looked at the ceiling. "Assistance? From me? Sister, the day _that_ happens marks the _eschaton_. No. You two were putting me to sleep, is all. And besides, that's not what you're mad about, is it, _Ibby_?"

Oh. He might have overdone that one just a bit because Iblis turned sharply, looking…

…Well fuck.

"H-hey now," he tried, backing away a little. "Don't forget where we are…"

She couldn't actually be thinking of fighting him _here_ , could she? Samael would kill them for sure, especially after that whole 'discrete' crap. Egyn didn't want to die. He still had a good few decades to go with this body. He hadn't even _begun_ looking for a replacement yet! "I'm sorry. I won't say it again, okay? So just-"

Iblis snarled silently, exposing the elongated canines of their kind, and a hint of true fear ran through his mind.

And then, just like that, the fight sizzled out of her, the mask of indifference slipping back on seamlessly.

Without a word, she spun and continued striding down the hall. Egyn watched her go, feeling a resigned sort of relief before trudging after her.

xXx

"Samael must reaaaally hate this kid."

After wandering around the 'school' — if it could even be called such. Just how big was this place?! — memorizing its layout and where the densest concentrations of exorcists were located, the two Kings now found themselves on the outskirts of the campus.

The building standing before them, emblazoned with the words 'Boy's Dormitory', was nothing like the rest. The walls bore numerous deep cracks, half the grimy windows were damaged and the other half was covered by large cobwebs with fat spiders at their centers.

It was, to put it simply, a complete and utter dump.

"We're not actually going in there, are we?" Egyn asked when he saw Iblis reach for the handle. "I mean, look at it! This place is a breeze away from turning into a pile of rubble! There's got to be at least half a dozen goblin nests in there. Not to mention tons of coltar, fungus demons, and-" Egyn kept going, naming everything remotely unpleasant he could think of until, finally, Iblis snapped.

"Then. Stay. _Outside!_ "

Egyn broke into a wide grin.

Those were the first words she'd spoken to him since their little spat, and okay, maybe she was telling him to get lost but hey, at least they were on speaking terms again!

When she saw his smile, Iblis sent him a foul look.

" _Well?_ " she demanded.

"Nah, I'm good," Egyn enthused cheerfully.

His bright response elicited another disgusted look from his sister. "Oh, don't be like that! I was only trying to be considerate-" Iblis snorted, "-given your sensibilities and all but if you're sure, then… Lead on, Captain!" He finished up with a snappy salute, earning him another eyeroll.

The hinges moaned in loud protest, something neither King actually noticed as they scrambled back for dear life, a futile attempt to escape the putrid stench of rot that came floating out to greet them.

It was the _perfect_ I-told-you-so moment, and Egyn would definitely cash in on it…just as soon as he got over the urge to wretch. Father in Gehenna, Samael sure took cruel and unusual punishment to hitherto unimaginable heights!

Once the Water King was sure his lunch would stay put — he seriously doubted those cakes would taste as good a second time — he turned to his sister and-

 _"…Speak and you die…!"_

-held his tongue.

Still, even the threat of death wasn't enough to abate his amusement. In a bid to smother snorts and giggles, Egyn put his hands up to cover his face. Which worked…for about five whole seconds. That's when the irritated flush on his sister's face pushed him over the edge, quite literally, and he collapsed into a howling, hysterical mess.

"If you're quite finished," Iblis muttered angrily. "Oh for the- enough already!"

"S-sorry," he gasped, fighting to regain some semblance of control. It took a while, but once he had, Egyn wiped the tears from his eyes and shakily got to his feet.

Damn, he hadn't laughed like that since he'd stolen Amaimon's candy stash and hidden it in Astaroth's place. Oh, it had taken _ages_ to clean up after the Earth King's temper tantrum. And sure, by the time they'd managed to dig up Rothy, the poor bastard had been in less than an ideal state, but it had been worth it, damn it!

Even now, the memory of Amaimon's crazed expression brought a wicked smile to his face.

He wondered if Iblis recalled the event. He meant to ask but paused as he caught sight of her expression.

Iblis was starting to look a tad upset now, her face having gone from merely flushed to full scarlet, and if there was anything worse than an angry Iblis, it was a flustered one.

Egyn held his hands up in a placating gesture. "Okay, okay. I'll stop, yeah? Just give me a sec." Deep breath in. And out again. Egyn nodded. "There. Happy now?"

Iblis folded her arms and turned away, refusing to answer. Like this, she reminded Egyn of a sulking child. He wisely kept that thought to himself.

They looked at the building in not-quite companionable silence.

"That never happened," Iblis said suddenly, in a tone that brooked no argument.

Suppressing another grin, Egyn said,

"Why, Sister. I don't even know what you're talking about."

* * *

 **I hope everyone is enjoying the summer! I certainly am.**

 **As always, feel free to leave a comment. Bye~**


	4. Have you considered murder?

**_*nervous laughter*_**

 ** _...H-heey?_**

 ** _So that...took way longer than expected but hey, the chapter's longer too so don't be mad? Please?_**

 ** _Also, important. I made some changes (noted in the summary) so if it's been a while since you read the previous chapters you'll want to start at the beginning again. Sorry about that -.-_**

* * *

 _Better to get it over with, Rin thought, and, with great reluctance, reached for the handle._

Everything looked… normal.

Old, dirty, a bit too worse for wear, sure, but all that was business as usual.

Rin scrutinized every nook and cranny of the entryway, twice, but he couldn't find anything that would justify Mephisto's irksome presence.

Speaking of the clown, Rin cast a suspicious glance over his shoulder.

Mephisto looked like the epitome of innocence, complete with halo — how the hell was he doing that?! — and even going so far as to whistle a jaunty tune.

Rin felt his eye start to twitch.

 _Moral support, my ass._

Whatever, it wasn't like Rin needed — let alone wanted — that clown's help. No, he could do this on his own. No problem.

Rin closed his eyes, let his breathing even out and his mind go blank.

Almost immediately, dozens of new sensations washed over him like a great flood. But he'd been practicing and managed to drag one from the clamor with relative ease.

Bump…

Ba-bump… Ba-bump…

With the rhythmic thumping of his own heart serving as an anchor, he began drawing out more sounds.

Next came Mephisto's pulse — difficult as it was to believe that monster even had a heart to speak of — softer and further away. Their rustled breathing and a leaky faucet down the hall followed suit, along with the barely audible skitter-scatter of a rodent's nails as it scoured the floor in search of food.

 _Have to tell Kuro about that one later._

When sound offered nothing useful, Rin took a deep breath. Smell had always been easier for him to figure out, more intuitive, and right away a couple jumped out at him.

There was the detergent Yukio had used to wash his uniform. The remnants of soap still lingering on his skin. And…and…?

"Eh…?"

Not quite believing his own nose, Rin took another breath, and then another.

The result stayed the same.

The mold-ridden stench of the dorm, the one that had been abusing his nostrils from day one, the one no amount of air freshener or dried herbs — sorry, Shiemi — could fix, and believe him, Rin had _tried_.

 _That_ smell was just… not there anymore?

Rin should have been happy, overjoyed even, but considering the situation and his current company, that feeling soured real fast.

"What did you do?" he asked, demanded really, spinning around to a jab a finger in the gaudy demon's face. Mephisto smiled, unbothered by both the accusation and the appendage.

"My, my," he said pleasantly. "It certainly is an improvement, isn't it~?"

Rin faltered a little. "I… I guess…"

Mephisto's grin became a condescending smirk. "Oh? What's this? You don't sound very pleased."

"Shut up!" Rin snapped. "All of this is too suspicious!"

But Mephisto just laughed in his face and Rin's eye-twitch returned with a vengeance. He responded by sliding Kurikara off his back, and while doing so did put a stop to Mephisto's stupid chuckles, it was obvious the unspoken threat didn't daunt him in the slightest.

Mephisto rolled his eyes, and in a bored tone said, "That again? Come now, Okumura-kun. Haven't we been over this already?"

Rin's hands closed around empty air.

"Hey!" The teen's eyes flashing around the empty hall. "Get back here, damnit!"

"No need to be so loud," Mephisto said amusedly, suddenly standing right beside him. "In fact, allow me to offer some of that support I mentioned earlier and expressly advise against it."

"Shut up!" Rin swiped at his sword, but it was long gone again.

What followed was perhaps the most unfair game of whack-a-mole in the history of mankind.

Mephisto, being the sadistic mole, would pop up in random places, often the place Rin had previously vacated, and Rin, being a particularly dense mallet, would furiously leap at him, desperately grasping at the sword but never quite managing to touch it.

After having the blasted thing slip through his fingers for umpteenth time, the teen cried out in frustration. "Aaargh! Stop doing that!"

Mephisto laughed, standing before him again and leaning on Kurikara like it was a regular old walking stick and not a centuries old artifact. "Kukuku. Oh, alright~. I admit, while it is terribly amusing to watch you stub your toe against this particular metaphoric rock again and again, I do have other things to do today. So, what do you say?"

Shifting his weight of the sword, he held it up for Rin, who quickly snatched it before the clown had a chance to change his mind.

Mephisto chuckled at the way the teen immediately pressed the sword to his chest, wrapping his arms protectively around, and opened his mouth to say something, probably another insult, but stopped and looked up.

"Hmm," he said, and flashed Rin another grin. "Might I suggest apologizing~?"

And then he vanished.

xXx

Egyn lay on the bed he had commandeered for his nap and stared dully at the wooden panels above him as the vestiges of his dream slipped from his mind.

The shouting from below continued, growing louder and louder. Slowly, he sat up.

"Don't."

Dead-eyed, he looked at his sister.

Iblis was seated at one of the tiny desks, reading a book that definitely wasn't hers, if the cartoonish figures on the paper cover were anything to go by. She didn't look up at him, engrossed in its contents.

"…That little shit…woke me up..."

His voice sounded foreign even to his own ears. Gravelly and foreboding, and not at all like his usual, easy tone. Iblis flipped to a new page.

"I know." The words did not soothe him. Iblis didn't really _do_ soothing. It just wasn't her style. "Try to calm down."

Egyn shook his head.

"I don't _want_ to 'calm down'." Egyn did not sound like a petulant child when he said this, absolutely not, the stupid little arched eyebrow on his sister's face be damned. "I _want_ to go break his teeth."

Iblis sighed, and finally lowered that damn book.

"Fine," she said uncaringly. "Do as you like. However, do not complain to me afterwards if things do not work out."

Egyn was out the door before she even finished her sentence.

Iblis shook her head. Honestly, that brother of hers…

Father would not be pleased with them if his precious creation got damaged, but she trusted Samael enough to step in if Egyn took things too far. Now then, she thought, turning back to the curious volume she'd acquired from one of the shelves.

 _'Magic guilds', was it?_

xXx

Stomping through the hall, Egyn tried to ignore the tightness in his chest.

It would pass, it always did, but right now it was mingling with the ache of necrosis and the combination was pissing him off.

In this state, the prospect of having to go down a bunch of stairs and enduring more of that damned noise was instantly dismissed.

The fastest way was always straight ahead, so that's how he went.

xXx

Samael couldn't help but laugh at the expression on Rin's face as the boy clung to his sword.

His younger siblings were all quite adorable when upset, and this one was no exception. Just look at those puffed up cheeks!

Granted, the boy was dumber than a doornail — what part of 'King of Time' did he not understand? — but that was fine. For now, at least. Stupid pawns, while aggravating, were easier to use, and the game was just starting to pick up.

Unable to resist teasing the boy some more, Samael opened his mouth just as there was a subtle spike in power above them. Oh, right. What a shame.

"Hmm… Might I suggest apologizing~?"

Rin blinked at his remark with wide, confused eyes, and went still as a statue as time slowed to a halt. Only then, when there would be none to witness it, did Samael allow his face to contort in a pained grimace.

"…Ah, ahahaha~."

His blood was on fire, burning its way through every inch of his diseased body. That little game might not have been the brightest idea, not with his powers spread out the way they were, but oh well~

Samael took a few steps back, dabbed at the blood dripping from his nose with a Hello Kitty handkerchief, and, once he'd disposed of that, snapped his fingers.

Rin had another three hundred and seventy-two milliseconds to look adorably baffled before the ceiling unceremoniously crashed down.

 _"What the hell?!"_

Ignoring Rin's panicked shriek, Samael watched on with distaste as dust and plaster and splintered wood flew every which way.

Good grief. First Amaimon, then Lucifer, and now Egyn. Did none of his siblings have one single iota of respect for other people's property?

His bratty little brother emerged from the wreckage unscathed, albeit scowling. Oh, if that fool thought he was unhappy now, just wait until Samael was done with him. He'd been too lax before, that much was obvious, but he'd remind his siblings, exactly what their positions were.

Humans were frail and quick to break physically and mentally. They were also incredibly infuriating. Prior to Amaimon's little fit, Samael had had to settle for venting his frustration and murderous impulses in videogames. Or, if that simply wouldn't suffice, he'd indulge his baser side in some unfortunate pocket-dimension before returning to whatever meeting he'd been suffering through in the main timeline, his associates none the wiser.

Ah, the perks of being him~!

During his musings, Egyn had zeroed in on their little brother, and was now advancing on the boy with single-minded purpose.

"Do me a favor, kid," the King of Water muttered darkly, "and shut the hell up!"

Then he punched him.

The force behind it sent Rin flying through the entryway, crashing in and then through the wall, and onto the courtyard before his body finally rolled to a stop. Ouch.

Sparing a quick glance at the body through the gaping hole in the wall, Samael determined the boy's life was in no serious peril and turned to his brother.

"Sleep well?" he asked blithely.

"Bite me!"

Samael made a show of thinking it over, mainly to prolong the scathing look his brother gave him. Yep, terribly annoying but oh so cute~! ︎

"Now that you mention it," Samael said, once he'd had enough, "I am feeling rather famished. Why don't you run along and fetch Iblis and the three of us can catch up while we wait for our dear dimwit of a little brother to wake up, hmm~?"

xXx

Bidding his feline friends goodbye for the day, Kuro hopped off the low stone wall and began his journey home.

True cross town was as lively as ever, with an array of brightly colored signs and buildings, and tons of people milling about.

Darting between strangers and half-familiar faces, he ran into an alley, vaulting over a pile of rubbish that hadn't been collected yet and narrowly avoiding the cloud of Coal Tar floating merrily above it.

The number of demons within the city had risen dramatically since the festival. From what Rin had told him, the Order was swamped trying to deal with them all, which also meant less time spent together and to Kuro, that was the real tragedy. He hoped they'd fix it soon. He missed playing with Rin.

Kuro was just about to take another of his backroads, when he spotted Yukio exiting a convenience store. With a happy cry, the Cat Sith jumped off the roof, landing perfectly in front of the teen.

 ***Yukio!***

"Oh!" The surprise on Yukio's face quickly melted away. "It's you, Kuro. Are you going to the dorm?"

Kuro nodded and held his paw out in the direction of the school.

 ***Yeah, and you're going the wrong way! It's dinnertime!***

Yukio smiled a funny smile. It wasn't mean or anything, but to Kuro it looked…off somehow. But Yukio was strange like that sometimes, so Kuro shrugged it off. "Can you tell Nii-san I won't make it to dinner? I've got some work to do and I don't know when I'll be finished." Without waiting for a response, Yukio barged past him. "Thanks, Kuro."

 ***Eh? Hey! Yukio!***

But Yukio was already gone, swallowed by the masses. With an unhappy yowl, Kuro turned around and continued walking.

If Yukio wanted to ignore family time that was his choice. Rin wouldn't like it, and the thought was almost enough to make Kuro chase after the boy and give him an earful. But since Yukio couldn't hear him the way Rin could, it would just be a waste of time.

Speaking of…

 ***Ah, I need to hurry! Rin's making miso steak tonight!***

* * *

 **I do hope it was at least somewhat worth the wait. (^ ^;)**

 **Lemme know what you think of the changes, and for those who are up-to-date with the manga...**

 **Chapter 105...Ohmygod...just WHY?!**

 **Goddamn fRoGs?!**

 **Anyways, have a pleasant weekend~!**


	5. Mephisto has issues

**Behold! tis a pre-Christmas miracle!**

 **Actually no, I'm just late because December is killing me. Ahahaha, please send help...**

* * *

 _"Now that you mention it," Samael said, once he'd had enough, "I am feeling rather famished. Why don't you run along and fetch Iblis and the three of us can catch up while we wait for our dear dimwit of a little brother to wake up, hmm~?"_

xXx

Although the teasing tone gave it the semblance of a request, Egyn had several reasons to suspect his brother's words were anything but.

Long fingers, enveloped in a lavender glove, rapped a steady, fast-paced beat against the handle of his stupid umbrella. Eyes normally a mossy green were now as murky as seaweed and roiling with barely concealed malice. And lastly, there was his smile.

Having only ever inhabited one body, Egyn had had plenty of time to get acquainted with Samael's myriad of grins, smiles, and smirks; every one of which conveyed its own, highly nuanced meaning. This particular smile was one Egyn happened to know rather well, and its message was very simple, indeed.

 _Shut up and do as you're told, or else…_

The wise thing would have been to nod. Say 'yes', or 'fine, ' or any other type of affirmation and be on his way. And had his head been just a little clearer, or his mood slightly better, Egyn would have done just that.

Unfortunately, it was not; so he didn't.

Opening his mouth, the blue-haired demon was about to spout out any, if not all, of the two dozen spiteful retorts running through his head — because who the _hell_ did Samael think Egyn was?! His fucking errand boy?! — when he was interrupted by the sound of a throat pointedly being cleared.

Iblis descended the last few steps, coming to a halt at the bottom of the stairs. There she made a show of taking in the now open ceiling — bits of which were still crumbling off — then the broken wall, lingering for just a moment on the unmoving form of the teenager outside, before settling on Egyn and giving him yet another look he was intimately familiar with: immense vexation.

The corner of his mouth lifting in a lopsided smile, Egyn shrugged.

"Oops?"

Iblis rolled her eyes, turned to Samael and said, "I'll see to dinner," then walked off, avoiding debris and disappearing down a hallway Egyn could only have guessed led to the kitchens.

Spotting his chance, he began edging backwards in the same direction.

"So since it's your school and all, I'll just..."

Samael leveled him with another smile and stare so icy they had even the King of Water stopping dead in his tracks.

Fuck.

xXx

To say that Rin was no stranger to pain would have to be the biggest understatement of the century.

The sixteen-year-old could count - and on one hand, no less - the total number of days he _hadn't_ sported at least some scrapes and bruises. Worrying? Most definitely. Especially once you took into consideration his accelerated healing.

And things had only worsened with the awakening of his powers.

In the last few months, Rin had been cut, beaten, stabbed, and, on one more memorable occasion, had his foot literally severed from his body by a ponytailed S.O.B. who could give even Mephisto's garish ass a run for his money in the tacky clothes department.

Seriously, white, white, and oh, you know what would _really_ complete that look? Some more.

Goddamn.

White!

…Where was he going with this again?

Ah right, pain, and lots of it. The one, and probably only, upside of which was that Rin's threshold for it was nothing to scoff at.

So with that thought in mind, holy crap did his face HURT!

Groaning miserably, Rin rolled onto his back, hands instinctively reaching for the source of the pain. This, as it turned out, was the bloody, mangled up thing he supposed had, at some point, been his nose.

Wasn't his life just friggin' awesome…

Red-stained fingers prodding as gently as they could - which, sadly, wasn't very - Rin winced at the unnatural angle and the sharpening of pain. Carefully taking hold, the teen clenched his jaw and began counting in his head.

 _One_

 _Two_

On _three_ , he wrenched sideways, his sharp intake of breath mingling with the sickening crunch of bone as he realigned the parts. The vapor, previously rising from his bruised flesh in a small but steady stream, immediately thickened, and within seconds the pain had faded completely.

"Tha's better," he mumbled, sitting up to look around with a dazed expression, absently wiping at the blood still on his face with the back of his hand.

The courtyard was empty save for him. Not unusual, given that this part of the campus rarely saw much foot traffic, if any. Occasionally, students would wander by - usually lost on their way to somewhere else. They'd stand right about where Rin now sat, take one look at the creepy old dormitory, and make an immediate U-turn, wisely returning to their own, nicer dorms. Ones that didn't have grimy floors, faulty wiring, or unpleasant smells of questionable origins and _waitjustonedamnminute!_

Eyes widening at the memories that came rushing back, Rin jumped to his feet-

And immediately toppled over, his head spinning round and round like a carousel at a fair.

Grumbling cursus under his breath, the teen waited for the vertigo to pass before trying again. This time he succeeded, and with legs that grew steadier with every step, he stumbled to where Kurikara lay in the dirt.

That blue-haired freak better be prepared for the ass-kicking of a lifetime.

xXx

Having retrieved his sword, Rin figured his best bet for locating the blue-haired freak was the old dormitory, and it was as he looked at the old building that he noticed something (possibly) important.

Someone had fixed the wall.

It wasn't your everyday, run-of-the-mill fixed, either, since no matter how long he stared at it, Rin - who had a fairly good idea of which particular section of wall he'd been sent careening through - couldn't find the faintest evidence of it having been damaged in the first place. None of the tell-tale signs, like fresh plaster or bits of debris, were there, and as he got closer, he could see where the material had been worn down by age and the elements.

This left him with two possible explanations:

Option 1, he was currently asleep, probably drooling on his textbook, and all of this was just a weird, hunger-induced dream. One he would awake from the moment his teacher noticed his less than attentive state and smacked him on the head with a paper fan. It would be embarrassing, not to mention a pain in the ass once word got around to Yukio or Bon or Shura or Shiemi - and wow, those were actually quite a few people concerned with Rin's education these days - and they chewed him out, but Rin could deal with that.

Option 2 was a lot less elaborate, a lot more annoying, and could be summarized in one, three syllable word.

 _Mephisto._

Growling audibly - because screw _that_ guy! - Rin glared at the unassuming double doors. 'Might I suggest apologizing'? The hell kind of half-assed warning was that?! God, but Rin was just _so done_ with this crap.

All he wanted was to sit down and have some damn food - and for his life not to follow the shitty plot of an effing shounen manga but what were the chances of that happening any time soon - and yet here he was; hungry, angry, and once more having to deal with that stupid clown and his stupider stunts.

Well no more.

Blue flames erupted as Rin drew his sword. His demonic features grew more pronounced, and his tail sprang loose, curling in the air behind him. With a swift kick, the door slammed open and Rin barged inside. There he faltered, cat-eyes widening at a sight so strange, so unexpected, so-

…funny?

Mephisto paid him absolutely no mind, focus entirely taken up by the bedazzled, purple Nintendo DS in his hands.

He was sitting in the middle of the hall, lounging on a ridiculously ornate chair - all plush red velvet and gold ornamentation because why not - his feet up and resting on an equally ornate and only slightly more ridiculous footstool.

The blue-haired guy - and damn, Rin's memory clearly hadn't done justice to how blue it was! Or how dumb-looking. What was up with that freaky wave-curl? - was there, too, hunched over and kneeling on the floor. The guy - Rin was just going to call him Smurf-bastard from now on, both for convenience's sake and plain pettiness - was dressed in a typical Japanese cleaning apron, complete with indoor slippers and bandana, the latter fastened carefully behind the aforementioned dumbass curl.

Held loosely in his hand was a simple wooden brush, which had been scrubbing furiously at the tiles right up until the moment Rin appeared. Now Smurf-bastard just sat there, staring at him with a wide, almost awe-struck expression that was beyond creepy. Thankfully - or maybe not - it was only there for a split second, and then the other's face twisted up in a superior smirk, eyes sparkling with forced amusement.

"Yo, dipshit. How's the fa-blmpf. MGFHR!"

"Quiet." Mephisto didn't bother to raise his eyes from his game, even as Smurf-bastard clawed furiously at the cartoonishly large, pink band-aid that had suddenly appeared and clamped itself over his mouth, cutting him off mid-insult. "And keep cleaning. I want this entire place spotless."

At last he put the game away, glancing down to meet the poisonous purple eyes of Smurf-bastard.

"Understood?"

Smurf-bastard glared daggers at the demon, then huffed angrily - well, as much as he could with his mouth still covered - and resumed cleaning even more violently than before.

"You're to join us when you're finished," Mephisto added, rising from his chair - which disappeared as if on cue, taking the footstool and the game console with it - and schooling his features into an overly friendly expression.

"Now then," he said, sounding and looking pleased as punch. "Shall we go, Okumura-kun~?"

Rin had exactly enough time to get out a hasty "Eh?" before Mephisto snapped his fingers and the teen was falling backwards into a comfortable chair, one that was heavy enough not to topple with his sudden appearance. Hands gripping the armrests reflexively, Rin's surprise turned to alarm as thick, metal cuffs clamped down on Rin's wrists, effectively trapping him. Thrashing against the bindings, his frustration and panic grew with the realization that the metal was a lot stronger than regular steel.

" _Hey!_ What the hell, Mephisto?!" he snarled, trying desperately to mask the tremor in his voice with anger. Not a difficult task as Rin _was_ practically fuming, blue flames licking at his skin, especially when Mephisto just smiled and sat down on the opposite side of the elaborately set up dining table. It reminded Rin of the 'dinner party' from a couple weeks ago, the memory doing absolutely nothing to alleviate the negative emotions raging inside the teen.

"Well I can't have you running off, now can I?" the clown asked innocently, like it was perfectly normal to kidnap people and slap cuffs on them. Crap, maybe the twisted freak thought it was!

The demon lay Kurikara, sheathed once more - and when the hell had he done that?! – on the table next to a very expensive-looking pitcher. "But you look uncomfortable-"

"No shit!"

"-so allow me."

He snapped his fingers.

The metal of the cuffs disappeared from sight, covered by neon pink fluff.

"Motherf-," Rin spluttered. "What is _wrong_ with you?!"

Someone sighed.

Rin's head snapped to the side, realizing for the first time they weren't alone, and ethereal blue met smoldering ruby.

A woman stood before the counter which separated the kitchen from the cafeteria, arms crossed over a red and black dress that fell just shy of the floor on one side. A hairpin with a stylized dragon on the end secured a loose, messy bun, ringlets of which escaped to frame her pretty but stern-looking face.

"Would a summation suffice?" the woman asked evenly, tilting her head a fraction in Mephisto's direction. "Or would you prefer a more comprehensive list?"

* * *

 **So yeah, that's it for 2018 I guess. Not to worry, I will finish this fic, and it'll be hella long.** **I have plans, people. Many plans.**

 **(Which change like, 4 times a week but whatever)**

 **So yeah, happy holidays (to those who celebrate) and may you have a brilliant 2019!**

 **Laters~**

 **PS: if anyone feels like leaving a review, thanks a bunch! I love reading those things :3**


	6. Burn, Baby, Burn

**So guess who isn't dead yet?!**

 **Ehehe...So it's been** **a while, huh? My bad... (_ ;)**

 **But look! A new chapter! And it's longer than usual! Hurray!** **ヾ(･д･ヾ)**

 **PS: You guys kind of need to savor every letter, because this bastard collection of words took me literal months to write. I'm not exaggerating. Actual, real months during which I rewrote it from scratch over 17 bloody times. It well and truly sucked...**

 **Anyways, enjoy~**

* * *

First impressions lasted. This was a simple, unequivocal truth of the world and with dirt stains on his uniform, plaster dust clinging to his wild, bluish black locks, and a particularly angry scowl contorting still child-like features, Okumura Rin made far from a positive one.

Watching in silence as the boy struggled against his bindings, Iblis wondered if he realized what a pitiful sight he made; with shoulders pulled high, fear and anger rolling off his frame in rushing waves that fanned the azure flames that wrapped themselves around him. Less armor, and more akin to an infant clutching at their blanket for comfort.

In short, he looked utterly pathetic.

Worse still however, the child appeared not to have even noticed her yet, something the King of Fire found both troubling — such an utter lack in basic observational skills was going to get him killed — as well as vaguely insulting. Sure, she wasn't announcing her presence, keeping it reasonably muted, but the boy had _eyes_ , did he not? And yet his entire focus was directed straight ahead, on the smirking figure seated across from him.

As was always the case with Samael, her brother's only concern seemed to lie with his own amusement, allowing the younger boy to shower him in insults and making not the slightest attempt to hide his pleasure at the discomfort he'd wrought.

It was filthy behavior. Utterly unseemly. And the sight of it once again reaffirmed Iblis' long-held belief that her older brother truly was the most despicable sort of person.

The demoness sighed, feeling the stirrings of a headache as the ridiculous exchange carried on.

Although slight, the rustling breath did not escape the notice of the room's other occupants. Eyes blue as hellfire turned towards her - noticing her at long last - and Iblis, eager to get on with things, spoke; responding to the boy's earlier query in a disdainful tone.

"Would a summation suffice?" she asked, nodding at their unfortunate relation, "Or would you prefer a more comprehensive list?"

The question earned her a side-eyed look from Samael which she soundly ignored. Her brother was in no position to complain, least of all over such a minor barb as that. And, if it truly bothered him to such an extent, well then perhaps he might reconsider using _sex toys_ as a means of restraining one of his younger _brothers_.

Unlikely, but one could hope.

Returning her attention to the boy, Iblis waited for him to respond. He was taking longer than strictly necessary, and looking at her oddly on top of that. Had the sarcasm in her voice not carried? It ought to, or did...he couldn't actually think she was serious, right? Surely not. Even just the thought of an in-depth discussion regarding Samael's 'proclivities' was utterly repuls-

"Who the hell are you?"

 _…hah?_

The perceptive observer would have noticed the change. As if electricity suddenly ran through the air.

Rin was not that observer.

"...Pardon?" Iblis asked after a while, a sliver of ice having crept into her tone.

From the corner of her eye, she saw Samael smile into his glass. Irritation bubbled under her skin, the temperature rising ever so slightly as some power slipped through the cracks in her facade.

"You heard me," the boy snapped, oblivious to the very real threat growing in front of him. He turned away, the flagrant disrespect in that one move tightening already taut strings. "Just how many weirdos did you invite?!"

For the second time that day, red filled Iblis' vision.

xXx

 _…Incredible..._

Samael sat, riveted by the scene unfolding before him, unsure whether to applaud Rin's stupidity or bemoan it. It was rather amazing after all, even if his frankly magnificent ability to stick his foot in his mouth and choke on it was likely to get him murdered in a violent fashion one of these days.

Being a model observer, however, Samael remained perfectly quiet, face set in its neutral if perpetually complacent expression as he monitored his sister's reaction.

Iblis' back had gone ramrod straight, hands curled to fists at her side. He knew her nails had pierced flesh when the telltale scent of blood brushed over him, vanishing quickly as the skin healed over once more.

Languidly pouring himself another generous helping of wine — the alcohol might not be doing much for him but the taste was wonderful nonetheless — Samael had to admit she was actually faring quite a bit better than he'd expected her to.

In the past, those few, special fools who'd committed the crime of degrading the irascible King had quickly found themselves suffering a painful and exceedingly fiery death. And while the ages had seen a drastic decrease in her fury, there was no mistaking the obvious rage in Iblis' current bearing as her eyes attempted to bore holes into Rin's admittedly vacuous head.

Samael bit back another smile.

Oh, it was _killing_ her not to make reprisal, which made the fact that the foolish boy still drew breath all the more telling.

Samael was under no illusions that this uncharacteristic display of restraint had anything to do with Rin himself. Because while it was certainly true that youth begot folly, Iblis had never been lenient about such things before.

(She'd all but slaughtered Egyn upon their first meeting, and despite the water demon's elemental advantage, had failed in that endeavor only because Azazel had chosen to interfere and rescued their misbegotten brother.)

It was very likely, of course, that prior to their departure from Gehenna, Father had given instructions not to harm the nephilim boy — instructions which Egyn had admittedly ignored, but that foolish brat never listened to anyone; consequences be damned. Still, forbearance had never been his sister's forté, so for her to stay her hand so completely like this…

Samael felt satisfaction curl within him as he took note of the signs that confirmed his initial assessment.

It appeared things might work out after all~

"Now now, Okumura-kun," he scolded mildly, drawing both his siblings' attention back to himself. "That's hardly an appropriate way to refer to an honored guest. And after she came all this way to meet you!"

Rin looked less than impressed with his words, and said as much.

"Do I look like I care?!"

No, honestly he looked like someone who was about to get their face burned off, if the tightening in his sister's jaw was any indication, but Samael couldn't just point that out, now could he?

Drumming his fingers on the Koma sword, the King of Time considered the boy. To any other demon, even those of an especially dense persuasion, the subtle threat to their Heart would have been enough to stop them dead in their tracks, but as always, Rin didn't even seem to notice.

What a bother.

Dropping all pretense for a moment, Samael gave the boy a look. Just a look, nothing more, but it was all he needed to make Rin's mouth close with an audible click and make his pulse waver. Heh, such a delightfully human reaction~

"Okumura-kun…," he drawled, the syllables rolling of his quicksilver tongue like drops of mercury as he allowed a tiny bit of his true self to show through his painstakingly crafted persona.

 _"Do be quiet."_

With that, Samael waited, patiently allowing the seconds to tick by. At his challenge, the teen remained blissfully silent, albeit with a rather foul look on his face and, satisfied, Samael carried on in dulcet tones.

"If you recall," he said, "the Order agreed to a stay of execution under a number of conditions, foremost of which being that you must pass the next exorcist's exam."

Samael paused to sip his wine. Ah, still wonderful~

"Allow me to shatter whatever delusions you may have and tell you now that, were you to continue to progress at your current rate, you will most definitely fail."

It took a moment for his words to sink in, but when they did, Rin turned quite an interesting shade of red.

"But not to worry," Samael added, swiftly interrupting what was sure to be another rudely worded and ultimately pointless protest. "I _did_ promise I'd assist you, and as it so happens, we now have a veritable expert in fire-based demonic powers here to instruct you."

Eyes shifting to their more so than usual sour-faced sister, Samael added wryly,

"Rest assured. Iblis here will have you whipped into shape in no time at all."

For a moment, Samael expected some flicker of recognition to make itself known. After all, even the dimmest of exorcists, and especially ones so hellbent on defeating Satan (snort), ought to have at least familiarized themselves with the names of the Ba'al. There were only eight of them. It wasn't _that_ herculean a task.

"Shura's teaching me."

"I'm aware," Samael returned blankly, internally mourning the death of modern education. "However Kirigakure-sensei's knowledge only stretches so far. Don't worry. She'll continue to instruct you in swordsmanship. Iblis will simply handle the rest."

"And what if I don't want her help?"

"Unfortunately, this is non-negotiable." Really now, even Samael was beginning to lose his patience.

"Screw that! I-"

 _"…Say…"_

Iblis' voice cut through the air like a finely sharpened blade.

 _"…Just now...Don't tell me…"_

Hot. It was getting hot. The air was burning.

 _"…You considered me **inferior** …"_

How many veins were those on his sister's forehead? Three? Four? Oh dear.

 _"…to a **HUMAN** …?!"_

Rin's chair clattered back as Iblis dragged him up by his throat, lifting the teen clean off the floor as if he weighed nothing at all. In his shock, Rin's flames had come undone. A grave mistake and one he tried to rectify, small sparks of blue flickering like candlelight, only for Iblis to _squeeze_ , nails digging into delicate flesh as she cut off his airflow entirely.

"…So weak…," she breathed, disgust mixing with something that could almost be described as wonderment as she watched him struggle. "…How could Father ever have produced...something like this...?"

Rin let out a small, choked whimper, tears escaping as thin wisps of smoke began to rise from the place where their skin met, the scent of burning flesh mingling with that of blood.

And that, that was Samael's signal to put an end to things.

Raising his hand, Samael prepared to stop time. Iblis would need a while to compose herself, by which point Rin would hopefully be in a more compliant mood himself. If nothing else, perhaps this little encounter had jogged the boy's memory a bit, and reminded him that whether he liked it or not, there was an order to things, an _etiquette_ by which he'd need abide, quite literally upon pain of death.

But as Samael went through the familiar motions of halting the flow of existence itself, an stab of excruciating pain shot through his body, accompanied by the awful realization that-

He couldn't do it.

Pure, unadulterated rage flashed through him, followed closely by just a hint of panic that Samael quickly and ruthlessly crushed.

So the damage to his body was more extensive than he realized? That was…bothersome, but not something he wasn't able to deal with. Samael could, _would_ recover. He just needed — and oh, the irony stung with this one — _time_.

Which, for now, put him in a somewhat awkward position.

Samael did not, for even one second, doubt he could take the irate King — the gap in ability was simply too vast — but a fight would require him to release his hold on the Gate, something the Order would undoubtedly have things to say about. Why, perhaps Angel — bless his poor, clone heart — would even be granted his dearest, lifelong wish to take that ridiculous and embarrassing cleaver-blade of his to the demon's elegant throat and lop off his head.

And of course harming Iblis carried repercussions as well.

Not only would it hamper negotiations between the two of them, but for all her unsociable behavior, Iblis was in disturbingly good standing with the majority of their Family, something neither Lucifer — on account of being absent so often due to his particular circumstances — nor Samael — on account of finding most of them to be insufferable imps — could claim.

(He also supposed renouncing Father and turning his back on Gehenna had not helped in that regard.)

But despite all that, and now Samael truly regretted using his remaining powers on a game of whack-a-mole of all things, the crux of the matter was that he simply couldn't afford to let Rin die. Not yet, in any case. Not when all the pieces were _finally_ starting to come together.

So with his priorities once more settled, what was there to be done?

Thoughts began flitting about like atoms as he wondered just what combination of words and actions would get him the most favorable outcome, to the point that Samael barely noticed the cafeteria doors being flung open until they thudded against the wall.

Pain and annoyance flitted across Egyn's dark features, the relentless heat enveloping him like an oppressive blanket. He managed to shrug it off with relative ease — which, when you thought about it, said more than enough about his and Iblis' general interactions — and striding resolutely into the room, he raised the nozzle of a…

Samael blinked.

 _…Hmm…Hadn't thought of that._

"Oi, Ibby!"

At the sound of the moniker she so loathed, his sister looked away from her prey, snarling at the interruption.

In response, Egyn flashed her a winning smile.

"Close your eyes, kay Sis?"

And with those words hanging heavy in the air, he squeezed the handle of the fire extinguisher.

* * *

 **That's…that's it. That's the chapter. I hope it didn't disappoint.**

 **So about the long absence, here's the deal. I actually left the country for a couple months to do an internship and on top of work and classes and actual social interaction (yay, friends) I had next to no energy left. And when I finally did get around to writing, nothing I got on paper was good enough. But now I'm home, I've recuperated, and I am ready to throw down!**

 **So to those wondering whether this story is dead, it is most definitely still kicking. About 70% of my daydreams nowadays are about this story which is...sad, I must admit, but good for content at least.**

 **Thanks for sticking around 'till now. Really. I am not unfamiliar with the agony that is wanting to read a story you aren't sure is ever gonna be finished (or one you absolutely know will never be completed, despite being hands down the best thing you ever read T-T) and it can't be fun dealing with such sporadic updates. I can't promise I won't ever be late again, but I _can_ promise you I'll try not to be.**

 **So yeah, I'd love it you guys would bear with me a while longer because, friends, this is gonna be one long ass story.**

 **On a different note, any of you guys read the Gentlemen's Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee? That book be dope and adorable as heck so be sure to check it out. Gonna get myself the sequel as soon as I can and supposedly there's a fluffy novella out there too! Life is good.**

 **Oh, and if you'd consider leaving a review? Because that stuff just makes my day**

 **Bye~ .:｡()ﾉﾟ.:｡**


	7. Tragic

**What's this? A sort of timely update? Preposterous!**

 **Also, these suckers keep growing in size. Terrible, isn't it. Enjoy~**

———————————————————————

There was a saying amongst humans that just before you died, your life would flash before your eyes.

Why this might happen was anyone's guess. After all, it didn't sound like a particularly useful way of spending one's final moments. Wouldn't it make far more sense to spend that time thinking up ways to, well, _not_ die?

Egyn didn't get it, and with no reasonable explanation available at the time, he'd chalked it up to human peculiarity; something he would likely never understand, let alone experience himself.

Or so he'd thought.

xXx

His first memory was of salt, carried on a warm breeze late one summer night, and when he opened his eyes to the world it was love at first sight.

The moon had replaced the sun in the sky, casting its cool light on everything and turning the beach a pale silver. Dark waters lapped at the shore, beckoning him closer and into the black expanse of the ocean that streched on and on, seemingly forever.

His heart throbbed at the sheer beauty of it all.

He didn't notice the small crowd that had gathered at his back 'till later, when someone called out to him. Right away, irritation built within at the thought of having to share his utopia — beautiful and perfect and _his —_ with anyone, but with time that initial malcontent faded, replaced with enjoyment at being fawned over by the (almost) overzealous islanders. They called him a god, and their sheer joy at his presence became a source of amusement, as did the near constant celebrations they threw in his honor. And so it was that he graciously decided to spare their lives, focus shifting entirely to the pleasures of having a corporeal body.

Egyn didn't waste time wondering who he was or how he got there or what he was meant to do. All he knew was his name and that every drop of water, be it in the ocean, sky, or coursing through the flesh of the living, belonged to him and only him.

The thought never crossed his mind that he might not be alone.

Not ten days after he came to be, some of the happiest of his entire 3000 years of life, strangers set foot on his paradise, their very presence making his insides twist in rage.

'A formal greeting', the tallest of the three strangers had called it, but whilst wearing a smile so fake it would have made a blind man wary. Garbed in unfamiliar clothes, he and his companions, both males, had appeared without warning, quite literally stepping out of thin air and oozing power that made Egyn's teeth ache.

These three weren't anything like the other creatures he'd encountered. Those hid away in the darkness, waiting until the cover of night before venturing out to enact their mischief. Those were small and weak, insignificant. But these-

"My name is Samael," the stranger went on, still grinning at a joke only he was privy to. The foreign syllables buzzed like flies in Egyn's ears. "And these two are Azazel and Iblis. From this day forth, you may think of us as your older brothers!"

Egyn gave the man the blandest look he was capable of. He wasn't unfamiliar with the concept of sworn family, but such relationships, as he'd come to understand it, were built on mutual trust and acceptance. How anyone but an imbecile could come to trust a snake like that was beyond comprehension.

Ignoring him for now, Egyn turned his attention to the other two. The white one he gave no more than a passing glance. That one felt fainter than smoke, and wasn't all there if his apparent, child-like fascination with the seashells was any indication. It couldn't have taken more than two words to convince him of anything.

But as his eyes settled on the third and final member of the group, a youth not much older than his own vessel but with skin as dark as basalt and eyes like fresh blood, Egyn wondered how this one had joined them.

This one had not spoken a single word - even Azazel (?) had spared a vacant greeting, though he'd quickly gone back to collecting shells. In fact, all he'd done so far was stand there with his arms crossed, scrutinizing Egyn's domain with a critical eye and a scowl that seemed to be permanently etched onto his face.

But when his gaze strayed to the sea, now turned a mesmerizing golden by the light of the setting sun, Egyn watched as discontent turned to blatant disgust.

Something inside him snapped.

The satisfaction he felt upon seeing the tidal wave slam into the Iblis' stupid, unsuspecting face was immense.

It was also incredibly short-lived; lasting only a second before being eclipsed by a sudden and inexplicable feeling of dread, every instinct he hadn't needed before screaming in alarm.

With barely enough time to register the feeling — fear? I'm afraid? — let alone act on it, Egyn faltered as the air turned scorching, a burst of steam spreading outward. He flinched, eyes closing on reflex and preventing him from seeing a clawed hand shoot from the cloud to clamp down on his face like a vice.

The next thing he knew, he was being flung towards the tree line, wood splintering around him, then dirt as he hit the ground, momentum carrying him further inland before a well-timed twist managed to get him back on his feet.

What the hell?

Amidst the panicked screams of the villagers — noisy and pointless — all Egyn found himself feeling was confusion. And pain.

He didn't need to see his reflection to know there was a hand-shaped burn on his face, nor that it vanished almost immediately, the pain abating and steam rising from the ruined flesh as his body healed.

His previous grimace twisted into a feral smile, wide and sharp as his fangs. His blood raced, excitement skyrocketing and awareness shrinking until all that was left was the overwhelming desire to obliterate the flame-clad being stalking towards him.

Later, much later, when his reason returned and his beloved island had been reduced to a scorched hellscape, Egyn was forced to re-evaluate the wisdom of his decision to antagonize the fire demon.

Because powerful though he was — and he knew he was strong, damn it — and despite the advantage he should have had — didn't water put out fire? — Iblis was stronger still.

Not to mention brutal.

Had Azazel not stepped in — and wasn't that a surprise, to see that dazed-looking fellow cow the raging beast — Egyn would most definitely have been killed. An experience, he was told by a not-unamused Samael, that would make his current state of internal bleeding, broken bones, and body-wide burns seem like a mere trifle.

Another thing he learned that day was that besides being strong, having a bad temper and a short-as-fuck fuse, Iblis was also damned good at holding grudges.

Just terrific.

xXx

Dragging himself back to the present lest he lose himself in his memories like some lowly human, Egyn dropped the empty canister. It hit the tiles with a dull clang that barely registered over the rushing in his ears. His heart — not his Heart, but the organ pumping blood through his vessel — was thudding away like crazy in his chest, violently enough that Egyn wondered whether it might not at any moment break free from his rib cage and decorate the hideous cafeteria with vibrant red.

For the record, he hadn't meant for all this to happen. From the very start he'd been planning on doing nothing besides saying a quick 'hi' to the kid and then ignoring his existence.

Nothing personal, Egyn simply couldn't care less about him. Not when he had siblings to spare and as interesting as the body thing was — pretty fucking incredible actually — it meant nothing when his own vessel could never be like that.

Envy wasn't a good look on anyone, and why waste time thinking about what he could never have?

No, instead he would spend the majority of this trip doing what he did best. Which was whatever, and with whomever, he wanted. Let Iblis concern herself with the rest. She preferred her own company anyway so really, by staying out of her way he'd have been doing her a favor.

Now, had the possibility of something like this happening crossed his mind? Of-fucking-course it had! It didn't take a bloody genius to know that Iblis' temper plus Samael's fuckery was a recipe for disaster. His sister's control over her emotions, while not nearly as bad as it had been in the past, was still tenuous on most days. Plus this whole situation with the half-breeds already had her feeling conflicted; her loyalty to Father warring with her inherent loathing for humanity.

So yeah, he'd expected some hiccups, some maiming and whatnot but hey, that wasn't so bad, was it? And much more importantly, it wasn't his fucking problem.

Except that it kinda was. Because his damned — in more ways than one — Father had to go and make it.

'Don't let them die', he'd said, the words whispered into Egyn's mind mere moments before the scheduled rendezvous. One stupid comment, thrown his way like an afterthought but loaded in a way that made Egyn physically ill.

The obvious favoritism aside — unlike some of his siblings, Egyn wasn't so much of a Daddy's boy that he needed Satan's approval, merely doing what needed to be done to avoid his ire — he resented that he'd essentially been told to go babysit his Father's spawn.

Egyn hated being told what to do. Especially when he had no choice but to obey.

So yes, leave it to Father to screw with his leisurely plans. It's what he did best, after all.

The eight of them had been doing just fine for themselves before Dear Old Dad decided to barge into their lives and take a fucking sledgehammer to the thing they'd once called normalcy.

And for what? A human? For _Love_?

 _Talk about a fucking joke!!!_

Egyn honestly hadn't known whether to laugh his ass off or drink himself into his next body when Lucifer — not Samael, because god forbid that guy ever told them anything of value — had informed them that, yes, they had a creator now, yes, they were to call him 'Father', oh and by the by, they had not one, but TWO new siblings, who, for some inconceivable reason, had been born and not incarnated.

In the end, Egyn had opted to do both — having the good sense to wait with laughing 'till he was well out of earshot at least. Although instead of a new body, all he'd ended up with was the mother of all hangovers.

...Gods, what he wouldn't do for a drink right now.

Drawing in another breath of too hot, too dry air, Egyn tried to calm himself. Panicking now spelled certain death. Or well, immediate banishment to Gehenna but those were close enough that a distinction wasn't really necessary. So yeah, self, time to think, what were his options?

Option one was pretty straightforward. Just stand there and let his sister kill him. Admittedly not that great but it wasn't like Egyn couldn't get a new body, it might just take a while. Option two was a classic, run away and stay out of sight until his sister's temper cooled enough that 'murder Egyn violently' became 'beat Egyn until he's a bloody mess'. He could admit it was a little cowardly, but he wholeheartedly invited whoever had a problem with it to face his sister in an enraged state and try not to trip over themselves in an attempt to flee.

Somehow, though, he doubted that particular tactic would work right now. At that was because his sister wasn't just angry anymore.

She was embarrassed.

His little stunt might not have been what started it, the brat must have said something to piss her off after all, but it had exasperated the situation and changed the rules for dealing with her. Now, all that running away would achieve was that she'd chase him and then obliterate him, thereby bringing the back to option one.

Moving on to option 3 then, which was…

Oh. No, that was pretty much it actually.

Shit.

xXx

There was a mad cackle building in his chest, one Samael barely managed to smother, lips clenched and shoulders trembling with the effort of keeping it contained.

Good Heavens, he'd forgotten just how hilarious Iblis and Egyn could be together! The former looked utterly ridiculous, covered in foam as she was and looking absolutely furious about it while the latter did a fairly decent job of looking wholly unaffected. That wasn't to say Samael had missed the minuscule, panic-laden glance he'd thrown the Time King's way; a reluctant and exquisitely desperate plea for help.

Help, which Samael was once again in a position to offer.

Forgoing all superfluous action — he just wasn't in the mood — he simply reached out and plucked Iblis from existence, depositing her in one of his lesser-used pocket dimensions: a barren wasteland with air so thin the raging King would have no choice but to reign herself in or risk using it all up and endangering her life.

The irony of which, Samael hoped as he watched Rin greedily sucking in oxygen, wouldn't be lost on her.

His other brother wasn't faring much better, to be honest. Egyn's shoulders had sagged the moment the pressure of the other King's presence faded, leaving him looking far too weary with life and all that came with it.

Poor thing, Samael thought, until he remembered all the times the little fiend had troubled him in the past and any pity he felt evaporated as quickly as his wine had.

"Off you go," he sighed, mournfully pushing the glass away before rising to his feet. "I'll call you when it's safe to return."

It spoke to Egyn's emotional exhaustion that he couldn't even be bothered to put up his usual display of defiance. The water demon only offered a halfhearted glare, sparing a slightly more scathing look for Rin, before heading for the doors. When those fell shut, Samael turned his attention to the boy.

He'd stopped coughing at least, and the burns on his neck and wrists - two splotchy, blistering circles where the cuffs had melted off - were healing, albeit slowly.

Unsheathing Kurikara a fraction to aid the process, he said,

"So what do you think? They make for an interesting pair, don't they?"

A pair of too blue eyes came up to glare at him.

"…If by 'interesting' you mean they're both psychos," Rin said, voice raspy and soft but quickly gaining angry strength as his flames roused. "What the hell was that?! You said you'd help!"

Samael tutted at the accusation.

"I also told you not to be rude. Iblis is a little sensitive about these things, I admit, but you weren't making things any easier. Anyway, you're still alive so clearly I did help. So let's end on that positive note, shall we?" Samael gestured at the table. "I have some things to attend to but feel free to help yourself. Though I imagine most of it is a tad overcooked by now."

"Huh? Wait! Where are you're going?"

Samael refrained from rolling his eyes but didn't bother to keep the derision from his voice, "Well, _someone_ seems to have upset our dear sister." Rin's eyes widened, mouth falling open. "And I need to go pacify her. No need to fret, I'll let you know when your tutelage is to start. Bis dann~"

Samael poofed away, chuckling at the reverberating yelp of 'sister?!'.

About bloody time he realized.

xXx

Outside, Kuro ran onto the bridge that led to the dorm just in time to witness somone leap off it and hear them splash into the water below. With autumn nearing its end and the weather growing colder, it was a strange time to go for a swim outside. Who was-

-the cat sith's stomach rumbled and any confusion neatly pushed aside in favor of getting his paws on some food. Pronto.

Sprinting the last hundred meters, Kuro skipped the steps entirely, slipping in through half-open doors and making a beeline for the cafeteria.

 ***Riiiiin!*** he called. ***** **Rin, I'm hoooome!***

"Eh? Kuro?"

A familiar mop of blue-black hair poked out of the kitchen and the smaller demon ambled forward. The teen dutifully crouched down to pet him and Kuro purred, rubbing his head into the affectionate gesture.

"Welcome back," Rin said with a smile.

Before scritches had a chance to devolve into a full belly-rub, however, Kuro pulled back, mewling,

 ***Rin, I'm hungry. Is dinner ready yet?***

The teen blanched.

"Oh...no, sorry," he said, and Kuro felt himself go faint. See, that's how hungry he was! How could Rin have done this to him?!

 ***But it smells like food!***

And smoke, but Kuro didn't care about a little charring so long as the inside was still raw.

At the comment, the teenager made a complicated face, free hand coming up to rub at the pink skin just above his shirt collar.

"Yeah...but that's-"

A phone began ringing.

"One sec," Rin said, going off to the side. He rummaged in his bag, muttering to himself about 'too much paper' as the ringing continued. Giving up, he grabbed the entire thing and turned it upside down, spilling its contents on the floor.

"Ah! There...Yo, what's up, Shiemi? Huh? That was today?! Tch, that damn clown! No, not you! ...Okay. Yeah, got it. I'll be there in 10." Kuro's ears twitched, not liking the sound of that at all. "Yeah, see ya soon. Bye."

He hung up, turning slowly to give Kuro the most guiltridden look.

 ***Riiin*** the cat sith whined.

"Sorry, Kuro but I gotta go..."

 ***But what about my dinner?!***

Rin thought for a moment.

"...There's still...that cat food Yukio bought you?"

Kuro's anguished cry was heard all across campus.

——————-

 **Ever so slowly, we're moving in the direction of plot... (・・)**

 **And now, for an important and belated question. Would, uh, any of you be interested in beta-ing chapters for me every now and then? You'd be doing the basic stuff: spellcheck, rating the plot, letting me know if anything's weird, etc.**

 **Ideally you'd have watched both the show and read the manga, and you have a slight obsession with the show.** **So yeah, lemme know and as always, thanks for reading :3**

 **PS: OHMYGODIT'SFINALLYHAPPENING!!! THE** **BLUE NIGHT IS HERE!!!**

 **Unless Kato pulls a fast one on us and gives all the screentime to Konekomaru but honestly, I'd be cool with that too. I predict we'll get to see him meet his parents or have an otherwise emotional, character-developing moment because Meph is backwards like that...**

 **'It m** **ay be a shortcut'...Ha!!!**


	8. Devilish requests

See, the funny thing about having been around long enough to witness humanity go from wrestling each other naked in the dirt to venturing out into space was seeing how _little_ things ever really seemed to change.

Oh, of course there were the cities; built, levelled and put back together. Wars waged, treaties drawn — which were naturally broken again when it became convenient, but that was neither here nor there — but the _people,_ for all that they were shuffled out like day-old pastries, stayed essentially the same. Same desires, same faults. And it wasn't that Egyn had ever expected much to happen in the short time he'd been gone but...really? Nothing? The God of Gehenna — arguably the God of _everything_ — shows up and it just gets shoved under the rug like a questionable stain no one can be bothered to deal with?

Talk about a let-down.

Bathed in a sea of fluorescence, courtesy of a hundred or so billboards broadcasting all manner of inane messages — hot woman with toothpaste, pointless , stupidly expensive sports event, hot woman with soda, _hot guy_ with toothpaste— the King of Water let his eyes wander, idly scanning the brightly lit buildings below where humans flooded the streets like teeny little worker ants despite being nowhere near as industrious.

And wasn't it just horrifyingly hilarious, a true testament to human unwavering apathy that even when the world drew ever closer to total collapse all anyone seemed to care about was the latest football match.

Not that Egyn couldn't relate to the sentiment. A self-proclaimed hedonist, he empathetically understood their desire to focus on the more pleasurable aspects of life. What he did _not_ understand was their wilful ignorance of their place in the world.

Not that it _really_ mattered though, the demon thought as he absently nibbled on his slice of lime. Even _if_ they were made aware of the darkness lurking just beyond the veil, it was hard to imagine them actually _doing_ _something_ about it. Beyond shoving the responsibility on someone that is.

They might not need to act, of course. There wasn't a single guarantee Lucifer would manage to revive Father within a year — or ever. Not when you considered that, in all this time, he hadn't even found _himself_ a durable vessel. And where Lucifer's situation could already be likened to bottling up nuclear explosion, imagining Father in a delicate bag of flesh and sinew seemed so far outside the realm of possibility you'd need an unhealthy level of imagination to even conceive the thought.

And yet, it _had_ happened. A 'miracle' that had left yawing chasm torn straight through their little _Family_ as proof of the fact.

Not that Egyn minded, or even noticed, all that much. It wasn't like the lot of them, with some marked exception, hung out _that_ often.

In any case, miracle or not, Lucifer made it clear he would not be discouraged. Truly, his eldest brother's perseverance— _stubbornness_ , if you asked Egyn — was nothing short of legendary. And his ability to completely disregard common sense in favour of piety in its most extreme form was outright terrifying.

...Seriously, humans had _no idea_ what they were dealing with.

Sighing as his thoughts and mood took a sharp dive, Egyn discarded the rind in his empty glass, pushing his chair back. Over the span of an hour, the restaurant had grown quiet around him, the number of guests dwindling down to almost nothing and transforming the fine establishment, or Egyn's little corner in any case, into a den of the morose.

A chance of venue. That's what he needed. Something noisy and crowded, with a bar capable of serving something better than the weak cocktail he'd been nursing for the past twenty minutes.

Dipping his hand into his pocket, Egyn dug around for the slim bit of plastic, paying no real mind to the waitress sidling up to his table until, instead of taking his empty glass or even handing him the bill, she wordlessly slid into the chair opposite his.

At least she'd brought him a new drink.

"On the house," she said, cherry red lips stretched in a smile and heavy lashes fluttering like butterfly wings as she pushed the amber liquid closer in invitation.

Egyn smiled back, charmingly, and brought his chair closer again. He accepted the drink all too happily, dragging it closer until the sharp scent of ethanol covered up the too-strong, too-sweet smell of perfume wafting his way.

"Thank you," he said, examining his new companion.

She was pretty enough, all sun-kissed skin and appealing features flattered by expertly applied products. Wisps of honey blond hair held just the faintest of curls and framed sparkling brown eyes. They darkened as Egyn let his eyes travel a lazy path along every visible part of her that wasn't her face before moving back up to meet her heated gaze.

'Pitiful', a dry voice that bore a disturbing likeness to his sister muttered in his head. Egyn could imagine Iblis seated beside him, eyes rolling to the heavens as if to ask how anyone could possibly be attracted to him.

The thought brought a genuine grin to his face, made him turn his attention back to the brunette to ask, "So, what are you doing after this?"

xXx

 _The air was cold, stinging against fevered skin, red and trembling. In his throat, his pulse hammered a fearsome beat as fear, thick and dark as tar, drenched his mind, locking up his muscles._

 _Yukio swallowed; mind forced blank as he took a single, resolute step. His foot met air, sinking, falling down down **down** , into the abyss, a single thought echoing in his head._

 _'I'm going to die.'_

xXx

It was on the second ring of the second try that the call was answered.

 _{ ...What? }_

"Oh my~" Samael chimed happily, grinning at the thinly veiled hostility in his little brother's voice. He leaned back into his chair, the amusement dripping from the words belying their innocence. "I hope I didn't interrupt anything~?"

A growl rumbled across the line, making him tut in mock disapproval.

"Now now, Egyn," he said, allowing for a hint of genuine reproach. "It won't do for you to go and scare your playmate."

 _{ Swear to Father, Samael } ,_ the other hissed under his breath, _{ If you called just to shit with me, I'm gonna shove your damn hat so far down your throat you'll-! }_

"And as _fun_ as that sounds, I'm afraid I haven't the time for idle threats, brother mine," Samael cut the tirade off sweetly, eyes on the Manila folder lying on his desk. "You see, I have a job for you. I take it you've left Japan?"

 _{ Yeah }_ Egyn went quiet for a moment, and Samael caught only whispers of the hushed conversation on the other side. _{ Look, can this wait? I'm kind of in the middle of something here... }_

"I'm afraid not," Samael began, taking perhaps a little too much pleasure in Egyn's annoyed huff before adding, "But let's compromise, shall we? Be a good boy and finish up quickly, and I'll text you the details in, hmm, two hours?"

 _{ Three. } Egyn countered, { And after this we're square, agreed? }_

"Naturally. Now have fun~ Don't do anything I wouldn't~"

Egyn scoffed, and Samael moved to disconnect only for an irritated 'wait' to follow suit.

"Yes?" he asked, eyebrow raised in question.

There was a long pause before Egyn spoke again, as if debating whether to say anything at all. That, or his mouth was otherwise engaged. The former seemed more likely, but the latter gave Samael's voyeuristic side the most _delicious_ thrill, and weren't requests such as the one he was about to make _so much better_ when given in person-

 _{ Why me? }_

"Because you owe me," Samael answered the succinct question sullenly, reigning himself in.

And although it was the truth, it was far from the only reason. After a split-second deliberation he decided that the occasional spell of forthrightness wouldn't hurt, with the added bonus of keeping his foolish brother on his toes.

"And because it concerns an acquaintance of yours."

xXx

The call ended, Egyn tossing his phone onto the messy pile of his discarded clothes before settling against the headboard once more, mulling over the short conversation.

An acquaintance. How wonderfully vague and unhelpful, especially considering that such shallow connections, past and current, ran within the high thousands for him. But that was Samael, through and through, wasn't it; lies and secrets and shadow games only he seemed fully aware of, the rest of them only knowing just enough to act within the confines of what his brother would allow.

Unable to fully suppress a sneer at the thought, at the blatant manipulation that was surely taking place, Egyn quietly ran through the possibilities. An acquaintance of his, but one entangled in Samael's affairs. Probably not a human, or Samael wouldn't need his help. Or perhaps the Order was watching a little too closely for him to act. Or maybe his brother just didn't feel like dirtying his hands. The possibilities were endless, but whatever it was, there _had_ to be more to it. In all the time Egyn had known the silver-tongued demon, nothing his brother had ever done hadn't had _at least_ two dozen underlying reasons, however convoluted or unimportant they might seem at the time.

Which begged the question, just what was that bastard up to now?

"Sorry about that," he said, the words not sounding particularly apologetic as he ran his fingers through the girl's dishevelled hair, gripping the dark roots. If she noticed his insincerity, she didn't show it, humming and leaning into the gesture, not unlike a dog wanting to be pet.

It was funny in a sad way and the utter lack of dignity lightened the demon's mood a fraction. Releasing his grip, he moved down to her chin, gently tilting her head up to forcing eye-contact.

"Now then," he said softly, "I wonder how I should make it up to you?"

xXx

Once the girl was sound asleep, sated and covered in countless marks, Egyn helped himself to a brief shower and a shiny, red apple from the fruit bowl on the kitchen counter before taking his leave.

He felt no inkling of guilt, no shred of remorse over cursing her. With demon activity on the rise, it was only a matter of time before some goblin scratched her or a dream sprite poisoned her sleep. He was being thoughtful, in a way, giving her a taste of the madness to come and a chance to acclimatise before the rest of the world went askew.

That, and a nice dose of terror never hurt the possession process, left the soul ragged and ripe for the taking. Their compatibility wasn't the best — 43% at most — but it wasn't the worst he'd ever had. He'd keep her in mind, at least until something better came along.

Egyn had barely made it out the door, sweet juice running down his chin as he bit into the fruit, before his phone chirped.

Right on time.

Egyn fished his phone out of his pocket, watching the unread message icon flashing on the screen. He looked at it as one might a coiled viper, curious but unwilling to approach lest it strike.

But then, as it always did, temptation won out.

Egyn stared at the illuminated screen, reading and re-reading the whole message, triple checking the picture attached because surely this couldn't _still_ be happening?

The message and the picture stayed as a they were, leaving him with nothing to do but viciously fling the half-eaten fruit away and storm unerringly in the direction of the sea.

xXx

Strange as it might seem considering its affiliation to his element, Egyn utterly despised the cold.

As usual, winter had shoved aside autumn and eagerly rushed towards Aomori, stripping the land of colour and life and wrapping everything in its frozen embrace. To some, the distant snow-capped mountains and skeletal trees might have made a charming sight, something to wax poetic about and though the demon supposed that it did possess a certain monochromatic elegance, beauty could only excuse so much.

In no way did it make up for numbness seizing his limbs, nor the chattering of his teeth.

Waving his hand, the ground by his feet split; parting like the Red Sea as truckloads of snow and ice were blown aside. It wasn't the most efficient way of clearing a path, but it conserved energy and kept him from having to trudge through knee-high piles of the stuff.

He _could_ have gotten another demon to do it for him. It would have been quicker and less demeaning, would have made him feel less like a glorified albeit very handsome snow plough, but Egyn had elected against it. Just like he'd opted against moving at any pace faster than a passive stroll.

It wasn't reluctance that prompted these decisions. Definitely not. Just like that troublesome feeling rising up inside him, growing stronger in time with the seal's increasing pressure, wasn't nostalgia or any other type of sentimentality...

...Fuck it, Egyn just wanted to go home. Or at least somewhere with central heating. If Iblis were there, then all the better because for all her frostiness, it was never _cold_ where she was.

Seriously, curse Samael for making him deal with this crap again. And curse Hachiro for letting that shitty woman of his wander off. And with an exorcist of all things! The fuck! Had that dumb snake gone fucking senile or something?!

Not that it mattered, but it might make Egyn feel the tiniest bit bad about having to beat him up for such a heinous lapse in judgement.

Ugh, but it was all such a _pain_. It'd be so much easier if he could just grab the woman and leave the confines of the seal before the Hydra had a chance to react. Hachiro might throw a fit later, might resent him for taking his precious trinket away, but damn it all if Egyn was about to let that idiot boss him around. He was King, damnit, and if he ordered Hachiro to hand the bitch over the only words out of that snake's mouth ought to be 'of course, Your Highness'.

And yet, despite it being entirely within his right to demand such things from his kin, the thought left a bitter taste in his mouth, mind aglow with memories of lazy days spent drinking or terrorising some random village.

Egyn shook again his head, hoping to dislodge more than just the snow clinging to his hair.

As it always did when the topic of _Tatsuko_ came up, it wasn't long before his anger turned fully to shitty kunoichi. All of it was her fault, after all. If Hachiro'd never met her, if he'd killed her like he was supposed to and not given her a chance to fill his head with nonsense, then everything would have been fine.

But life couldn't be that simple, could it. And by the time Egyn caught wind of the situation, it had been too little too late; small, pink fingers clutching at Hachiro's black ones, the child huddled against his leg as King tried to pick up his fallen jaw.

Naturally, Egyn had been against the whole thing, had told Hachiro how ridiculous he was being but had it worked? No. Not at all. His words earning him nothing but strange looks from the other demon as if _Egyn_ was the one being unreasonable for thinking a demon falling for a human was anything but utter madness.

Egyn supposed he _was_ somewhat grateful he hadn't been there to witness the 'fated encounter', as his old friend had put it, a giddy note in the Hydra's voice that made the King of Water want to bash the fool's face against a rock. Repeatedly.

"Whatever," he muttered, purple eyes raised to the slow spread of pink across the sky. None of it mattered anyway because however lowly he thought of them, Tatsuko and her look-a-likes made Hachiro, ugh, _happy_.

And who Egyn to screw with that...

Except...

Except...was that blood...?

Egyn's feet stilled, discomfort tingling up his spine as his senses fanned out.

There. Human, but with just the smallest undertone of _demon_ that it had his hackles rising and his feet carrying him in the direction of the shrine.

"Fucking damnit, Hachiro!"

xXx

Samael's first clue that something unnatural was happening was that he did not recall ever entering this place.

The room possessed neither doors nor windows; the walls, floor, and ceiling all devoid of features. Logic dictated that such a space ought to have been pitch black, yet sitting there, Samael could only have described his surroundings as pleasantly bright and inviting.

Ignoring the inherent wrongness of the situation, the King of Time sat perfectly at ease, intent on the chess board set before him. It held but a scant number of pieces: Rook, Knight, and Queen, all three circling the enemy's Ivory King. Wordlessly, Samael placed a new piece on the board, and as the Black King touched wood a thousand voices began to whisper.

"Was it wise?" they asked, drowning the impossible room in thick concern that left the air heavy.

"Was what wise?" Samael replied, eyes glued to his solitary game.

"Sending him there. What if-"

"It's fine."

The concern sharpened with admonition. "But-"

Samael raised his eyes, a confident smirk at his lips and complete self-assurance in his words.

"I know what I'm doing, Azazel."

* * *

 **I give you plot** **ヽ** **(** **ﾟ** **Д** **ﾟ** **)** **ﾉ**


End file.
